Dehydrating press and method of dehydrating



E. G. LOOMIS DEHYDRATING PRESS AND METHOD OF DEHYDRATING Nov. 19, 1940.

' Filed Jan. 2 0, 1938 llll-lllllllll mmm oRNEY l 'Patented Nov- 19,1940, l?,.22:1,z'w6

DEHYDRATING t Y' vartsG. Loomis, Newark, N; J.

" Applicatibhranuary 20,.

inventionflrelates to ldehydrating. pressesQ.y and more `particularly to, those in Which a liquid is rst removed frornthe,materialiunder treat-1. ment, and thenanotherliciuid is permitted to per-- raising of the bottom being performed by means 1938,v serial No. 135,839; Y c1, 34524)' of the' rnd le located 4within i,yiiricinf `|1 aha-{pro- Y',vided at' 'its lowerend with the'piston" I8. The ,v upper end of the rod IBis secured tothe bottom Y.

14. The lower en d of cylinder v-l'l` i`s providedv'with colatethrough the material and. thelatter liquidi` closure member I9y having inlet port 2 0 through 5 then pressedout of-thematerial'.l An example of y which fluid may enter to hydraulically elevate such material isv nitro-cellulose, Wherefthe mate- `piston I8, thereby causing rod I6"to liftthe bot rial is preferably maintained in'mois'tened-condi; tornand cause it toraise the materia-l inrecep- A' tion for` safety purposes, then..ex cess Water is. tacle Zand ejectit therefrom. r K f 1C. drained, wrung or*V pressed out and alcohol is a1, Secured .in and extendingY upwardly from the 10 lowed to percolate through the material and then"y v'base member! 'are'the parallel fspaced'supporting excess alcohol is pressed out and reclaimedjv t rods 2| and,22 which haveitheir upp'enends se The objectof this invention is to provide rauf curedin the lug portions 23 of hydrauliccylinder f process of treating material and a pressof .a con?. 2li. Cylinder; Zilis` lined asy indicatedatf25. and

'l struction suitable.forftheperformance'of.such a"l jmovablejvertically within the cylinder is .arjhol- V.15

. function as described on any material requiring f" `low plunger-orlram ycomposel'lolthe'upper porsuch treatment, whether itbethe cellulosic mate- .`tion"26 and attached'lower member 21,*th'elatter rial mentioned Sor some. other material or sub-14 being attached to theupperpor'tion 26byf means stance.l A i h v ofthe' lengthy screws 28,:sev`e`ra1of which are 2G A further object of the'invention isto provide employed; 1 Ser'zl'-1'reol-tothe lower fend' ofthe 20' a dehydrating means vofthef'zharacter described plunfgierf portion v2T by means 'f-thsfeWS 30 iSy wherein effective and =.en`1cient .recovery "of the -van apertured faceplate `29 -formed with a'pluliquid with which the materiallis saturatedis had'. ,ralityof openingsk 32 communicating-With the re-v In the accompanying drawing wherein` anleml i 'cess 33 lfrom which a'port34 extends; said'po'rt 34 bodimentpf the inventionis. shown, Fig'.v 1j is a beingl 'connected'z'to a pipe 435kt*extending'upwardlyv 25 vvertical sectional view through a press madein through the plunger portionl 21 thence exaccordancewith the invention;- Fig. 2islaneleva'=`1ftending laterally, out through the side of the tion ot the press, with the lower portion of the; (plunger and lfinallyA connecting through -piping same shown in. section` ,andv the lpressl showrijuhaving swing joint-s or ilegible connections,y not gloaded and in operatiommand Fig. 3 is `a vertical'fy' shown; v,With yai' vacuum' pump;'-"the-I purpose of 30 sectional view through` the hydraulic lifting" fvllluchis'to produce Suction s'uciehttofallow means for elevating the rar'n or plunger." "atmosphericH pressure VV'to forcel the. .alcohol or i In the drawing, l indicates thebase member or "other percolating fluid Athrough perforation's `32 support for the press, and 'upon which vthe recon;v andgont through theme35. thus to'prvntleab" `tacler2 in which 'the' material is compressed, is Vage between the material'cylinder A2 andrami '21 35 supported. i Said-receptacle 2 is in theorlr'n of va and to recover orreclai'rnsaid'liquid; 'f +1. i L.cylindricalnlember.having' its upper edge', formed The underlface of thefacoplate 2,9"S COVeled l'with an annular overilowV grooveq3 and having af with a 'Screening ol forarninous material36 to A vertically movable vbottomlff'forrnedWithia plufj "Prevent clogging 0f'.y '011e Opening 32. Thev con- Mralityv of apertures 5 communicating with the j'nected plunger portionsZli` and 21;?.cmstituting 40 .channels s in the underside @fr the bhttoma, said.. "the Tomi; aroadaptedsto be lois/eredr tofcause channels leadingto the openings Tahari in the pluneerfnortion 2l to descend' into'reoeptaole 2 base of support I.` Openings-l and 8v respectively', and compefishe 'matera1'31'10c-at`ed thein tf" connectie the pipes 9 and lo, which are joined ,a required extent, la's'pe'seiritlvpointedont;v The.

i5 by the cross pipe' and that leads into pipe |21 r*plunger is'foroed downwardly byfmeans of hir-l 45 which connects through the two-way va1ve I3 .to droulio fluid entering. through` entrance .opening the lateral pipes I4 and l5." t n 38 formed in the upper Send of cylinder 24.

Located von top of the bottom'memberdr in Plunger 26 is provided atits upper end with receptacle 2 is a screen 3|' or other foraminous Packing 39 til-prevent leakage Of the hydraulic material serving to prevent clogging of the aperuid paSiZ the plunger, t0 DIeVeIlt the ud from 5() tures 5'.V The bottom 4 and the screen carried by reaching the COIIGHS 0f the receptacle 2 and it are adapted to be raised at the proper time to possibly contaminating the same. The plunger eject .any material located .in receptacle 2 after portion 21 is formed with an annular collectonthe completion of the dehydrating operation, the groove 40 at the point where it joins the plunger portion 26 so that it' may capture'anyhydraulic shown in Fig. 3 by means of `hydraulic pressureI entering into the lower end of the cylinder through pipe 44 connected to a suitable source of liquid supply. The lower end of hydraulic cylinder 42 is closed by stuffing box 45 and the lower end of piston rod 46 is secured in flange 41 of plunger member 21. Two of the cylinders 42 and associated parts are employed for raising the plunger.

From the foregoing the operation of the device will be readily understood. The receptacle 2 is first filled with moist or damp material such asv nitrated linters that have generally been drained,

centrifuged ork otherwise treated after having been Vwashed to remove the excess water from this material. After this, hydraulic pressure is permitted to enter through opening 38 in cylinder, 24, causing the ram or plunger to descend and have its lower end portion 21 enter into receptacle 2 and press water out of the material 31 and form the material into a uniform mass but not so solid that it may obstruct the desired .Derf colation that follows. The water may drain out of pipes 9 and I0 into pipe I2, througlrvalve I3,

and-finally out through thedrainpipe I5. At this time valve I3 is insuch a position that it is shutting off pipe I4 and establishing communication between pipes I2 and I5. The valves leadingto the hydraulic cylinder 38k may now be closed, leaving the ram or plunger down within receptacle 2 and lapplying moderate pressure to the material therein. The vacuum or suction or an alcohol or other fluid pump is then started or put in communication with pipe v35 which reduces y, the air, gas or Vapor pressure between the' fibrous or granular structure of the material. Alcohol or4 some other fluid, according to the nature of the material being treated, is now pumped in` throughpipes I4a and I4,and forced up through pipes I2, Ill and 9, the valve I3 having been turned to shut off communication between pipe I2 and pipe I5. -The alcohol enters through the pipes` leading to channels 6 and passes upward through openings 5 and through the screen 3| to reach the material and it percolates upwardly throughthe material to saturate the same by relative specific gravity carrying only gases, air or vapor above it and which are carried away by the suction. As the alcohol rises, it comes' into" contact with screen 36 and suction drawsthe alcohol up through apertures `32 and out through pipe 35 to a point where it is recovered. After this percolation is carried to the desired extent, thealcohol entering through pipe I4a is shut off and then the ramor plunger is caused to descend farther and compress the alcohol-soaked material to an extent required to remove all surplus alcohol from it, the alcohol thus removed being drawn upward through the suction pipe 35. When the nal compressing operation of the material has been completed, the vacuum through pipe 35 is cut off and valve I3a is turned to connect pipe I2 to drain surplus alcohol out of the bottom of material receptacle 2 and from pipes I4 and I4d to supply tank. The ram is then elevated or raised by means of thehydraulic pistons 4I and then hydraulic piston` I8` is elevated to raise the bottom 4 and cause lthe dehydrated contents of the receptacle tube to be ejected out of said re- A ceptacle. yThe bottom 4 of` receptacle 2 will descend by gravity upon release of hydraulic pressure below piston I8.

What I claim is:

l. Inan apparatus of the character described a receptacle for material to be compressed, a ram movable downwardly into the receptacle to close the topof the same and to compress the material therein, means for raising and lowering the ram out of and into the receptacle, a movable bottom in the receptacle and means for raising the same when the ram is elevated, means for forcing a liquid through said bottom to saturate the contents of'the'receptacle, and means directly connected to the ram for exerting suction through the ram-to drawoi liquid extracted from the contents of the receptacle by the pressure ofthe ram. v

2; The method of dehydrating materials comprising placing a quantity of the material in a receptacle, introducing a percolating fluid at the bottom of the receptacle to cause said fluid to rise upwardlythrough the material, applying pressure on top of the material in thel receptacle by a movable pressure-imposing Aelementtov comv press the material, and employing `a vacuum exerted through the movable pressure imposing element during the compression of the material to draw` off the percolating fluid.V

' 3. 'An' apparatus of the character described :omprising, a receptaclel for holding material to be compressed, said receptacle having a normally opentop, a ram normally located aboveI the open top of the receptacle and mounted for descending movement into the receptacle to vthereby close the open top of the same and compress material within the receptacle and extract liquid therefrom, the receptacle being 'provided with a vertically movable perforated bottom, means for forcing liquid upwardly through the perforated bottom to cause said liquid to saturate the material in the receptacle, suction means associated with the ram for removing liquid upwardly from the material inthe receptacle whileithe ram is disposed within the receptacle and is acting as a closure means for the open top of the same, and

means for elevating the perforated bottom of the receptacle to'ejectthe contents of the receptacle after the ram has been elevated to a position abovethe top of the receptacle.

EVARTS G. Loot/ns. 

